I am all for constructive criticisms, but some of the critics of Bangladesh cricket seem to have it in for Bangladesh. Admittedly, Bangladesh's success has been few and far between in tests since the test status. However, it is in like with most other countries that got the status before (except maybe SL). Of all the critics, I think Geoff "I cannot hit" Boycott is the detractor-in-Chief.

You know all these critics are not wrong. Its been 12 years since we got our test status, and sadly we havent progressed much. We may have had world class coaches, but did we ever listen to them? Our cricket has always been at the mercy of politicans, businessmen who has no knowledge of the game. And any role or association they have with BCB is for their ego rather than the good of the game. No visionary leadership, no long term strategic plan, nothing. Every new person will come with his own agenda and undo predecessors work. We hire CEO's, but the president interferes with all affairs including selection. Story of our cricket!

But on a positive note, 2012 has probably been one of our best years. Impact of BPL is clearly visible. BCB have also understood the importance of first class cricket. Now lets hope we get hold of a good head coach to help us improve in 2013.

Btw no matter what Syd Barret and Boycott say, Bangladesh will continue to play test cricket. Cricket is struggling, it cannot compete with other mainstream sports. Removing a country with one of the largest fan bases is not going to do any good to the game. So as they say in Sri Lanka they can go fly a kite.

Btw no matter what Syd Barret and Boycott say, Bangladesh will continue to play test cricket. Cricket is struggling, it cannot compete with other mainstream sports. Removing a country with one of the largest fan bases is not going to do any good to the game. So as they say in Sri Lanka they can go fly a kite.

Is this really true? If fans don't afford to buy a ticket worth $2.5-5 for a Match... Should we count that fan base ? I mean does that fan base really really have any impact on the game?

See what's happening with the fan base in BPL? And that seems to be the only plus point we tend to boast of/exploit in our fav...i don't find that justified.

There is no shortcut to playing good cricket, for the cricket to survive in BD. everything else is quiet irrelevant at this point.

The story is not too much different anywhere in the subcontinent. If the ticket prices are not affordable to students, it is difficult to fill the stands on weekdays. Organizers can charge a premium for high-priced seats, but the cheapest seats have to be cheap. It would be interesting to know the size of Bangladesh's "cricket economy" in relation to the other cricket nations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BANFAN
Is this really true? If fans don't afford to buy a ticket worth $2.5-5 for a Match... Should we count that fan base ? I mean does that fan base really really have any impact on the game?

See what's happening with the fan base in BPL? And that seems to be the only plus point we tend to boast of/exploit in our fav...i don't find that justified.

There is no shortcut to playing good cricket, for the cricket to survive in BD. everything else is quiet irrelevant at this point.

Originally Posted by shuziburo
The story is not too much different anywhere in the subcontinent. If the ticket prices are not affordable to students, it is difficult to fill the stands on weekdays. Organizers can charge a premium for high-priced seats, but the cheapest seats have to be cheap. It would be interesting to know the size of Bangladesh's "cricket economy" in relation to the other cricket nations.

Even if I accept that for the sake of it, then thats not a unique USP to keep us in elite group. It's over 12 years and high time that we justify being a part of it through our cricket, rather than such irrelevant justifications.....

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
It's pronounced Shild Berry boss. Not Scylde as in Scythe.

WTF? Who gives a sh*t about how the f* he pronounces his name? I am not teaching anyone to pronounce the gits name. I am just writing the frigging name. I now regret adding the facepalm icon and am considering a fist in your face icon.

Originally Posted by BANFAN
Even if I accept that for the sake of it, then thats not a unique USP to keep us in elite group. It's over 12 years and high time that we justify being a part of it through our cricket, rather than such irrelevant justifications.....

Buddy, interest in cricket is dwindling. Today there is a lot of EPL craze in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan which wasnt there 5-7 years ago. And this will continue to grow. Kids are no longer growing up only wanting to be the next Tendulkar-there is severe competition from other sports. T20 sort of revived the game but the longer versions are still under risk.

Dont judge by the number of people at the stadium solely. How many people are watching on their television screens. How many people are reading newspaper, going to cricket websites. How many kids are willing to play the sport. It all counts. You cant knock out Bangladesh without taking a big hit at the sport. Which is why ICC will think twice

But you are absolutely right, we cant rest with this in mind. We have to improve and silence the critics. But after a long time we pushed two test matches to Day 5 one of which we could have won. Quite an improvement from the days where it was all over on Day 3. The more competitive domestic cricket we play the better we ll get.

Originally Posted by BANFAN
Even if I accept that for the sake of it, then thats not a unique USP to keep us in elite group. It's over 12 years and high time that we justify being a part of it through our cricket, rather than such irrelevant justifications.....

ICC has been pushing for a two-tier test system anyway. What I don't want to see is a system in which there is no promotion and relegation. They should rank the teams and at the end of the year, promote two teams from tier 2 and demote two from tier 1.

Two tier system or one tier system we should refrain from playing higher ranked teams particularly away from home. Play more home matches, invite New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe etc. Make wicked wickets which suit our spinners. This way we can be competitive and silence our critics. There will always be people who will see then how will our guys learn if they dont play away from home in Australia or South Africa or England. Truth is we dont learn from any of these tours. We lose within 3-4 days and fuel ideas for Syd Barret and Geoffrey Boycott. Just because Ashraful plays in Lords doesnt make him a better batsman. Until we are a better team we should be very conservative about who we play and where we play.

Most bd batsmen and bowlers will struggle on green/fast pitches so the only way to solve this problem without getting humiliated is to resign our test status and go away on unofficial test tours in Aus and Eng and versue the state teams there to really get a feel for those pitches and then 2 years later regain our test status and become heavyweights in the test arena.

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“The long I play, I will try to play good cricket. And if I succeed, that will be the biggest satisfaction.” - Imrul Kayes (April 2016)

We are struggling in Test Cricket simply because 1 we don't take our first class structure seriously. 2 we don't play regular test matches and have long gaps. 3 we do not alter and mix some of our Cricket pitches some slow and low and others fast and bouncy. 4 we don't have good pacers and our batsman don't get to face them as much especially quality ones. So we can see there are a few problems with Bangladesh in the long form but no doubt we are improving and that's the best way to go about it right now.

Tier systems won't work because 1 there are not enough teams playing at the highest level and 2 money talks so it won't happen and such a system should've happened at least 30 years ago. Stripping Bangladesh of test status will never happen or suspending our status like Zimbabwe won't change anything because we don't play as much tests compared to the big teams so no harm from us anyway.

Also do not forget that this current Bangladesh team is completely new compared to the old Bangladesh team between 00-05 so the stats can be a bit manipulating. The players back then no disrespect most of them were amateurish and had other professions.

When we tour Sri Lanka and can somehow make an impressive showing even win it then we can safely say this Bangladesh team is going in the right direction for once or finally